Achievement patent right: Federal Cartel Office does not want to introduce a procedure against Google

The VG Media, which represents twelve German press publishing houses, in its argument with Google a setback suffered. The Federal Cartel Office does not want to proceed for the time being against the US group.
The Federal Cartel Office will introduce no abuse proceedings in the controversy of German press publishing houses with Google over the enforcement of the achievement patent right against the US group. The authority confirmed an appropriate report of the “Frankfurt general newspaper” on Friday. Together with the exploitation corporation VG Media had inserted twelve publishing houses in June complaint with the Federal Cartel Office. “Necessities for the introduction of abuse proceedings are always a sufficient first suspicion”, said head of the monopolies commission Andreas Mundt on Friday. “The complaint of the VG Media could not justify this.” Office spokesman Kay Weidner said, the Federal Cartel Office observes independently of the complaint of the VG Media the concrete behavior and the provable reactions of Google to the demands of the individual publishing houses or the VG Media. If necessary the office will officially check the introduction of a trust procedure against Google. Large publishing houses such as Axel Springer and Burda united in the VG Media, in order to bundle their interests and proceed against Google. The publishing houses argue with Google about whether the search engine company must pay for text parts of products of press a fee to the publishing houses. The company rejects. Range of the achievement patent right at present contentiously several online portals do not take part in the achievement patent right alliance. In addition belong Spiegel online, “Handelsblatt.com”, “FAZ.net”, “Stern.de” and “Sueddeutsche.de”. Also of “Focus online” and the German edition the “hoof catching tone post office” Media cannot be represented at present by the VG. After the German achievement patent right internet search engines may show such as Google only individual words or “smallest text parts”, so-called Snippets, free of charge. Antitrust Division granted however, in detail is at present contentious the concrete range of the achievement patent right. The reproaches raised from the VG Media in the complaint were limited predominantly to refer “to the possibility of cartel law offences by Google if publishing houses with the service Google news to this achievement patent right refer”. It criticized Antitrust Division that the reproaches do not tie “however to a concrete behavior of Google”. This is valid also for the reproach, Google disadvantages press publishing houses with listing of search results in the general Google search, “around it to a renouncement of the asserting of the achievement patent right to force”. From the VG Media was to be received first no statement.